Is it a liquid or solid? The answer is both! This DIY slime—made from glue, borax and water—is also known as a polymer (molecules that can stick close together to be a solid or spread apart and take liquid form). And it’s all thanks to borax, which acts as a binder to prevent the glue from going completely liquid. Check out Explorable’s recipe on mixing the ingredients. Prolong the life of your goo by keeping it in an airtight container in the fridge.

Can you and the kiddos solve the mysterious case of the disappearing egg shell? Following the simple how-to at Go Science Girls, you’ll learn the step-by-step and talking points about the process along the way. Warning! Although it’s totally non-toxic, toddler aged kids will be tempted to squeeze the egg at the end so make sure it’s a supervised experiment. Visit Go Science Girls to get cracking! Are you looking for cool science experiments for kids at home or for class? We’ve got you covered! We’ve compiled a list of 37 of the best science experiments for kids that cover areas of science ranging from outer space to dinosaurs to chemical reactions. By doing these easy science experiments, kids will make their own blubber and see how polar bears stay warm, make a rain cloud in a jar to observe how weather changes, create a potato battery that’ll really power a lightbulb, and more. Have fun exploring science around your house and backyard. Take pictures of your experiment steps and make a science experiment notebook to record your findings. It’s safest to work with a parent or other adult when performing science experiments, though. Always get permission before you work like a scientist, and ask an adult to help you with the experiment steps. Below are 37 of the best science projects for kids to try. For each one we include a description of the experiment, which area(s) of science it teaches kids about, how difficult it is (easy/medium/hard), how messy it is (low/medium/high), and the materials you need to do the project. Note that experiments labelled “hard” are definitely still doable; they just require more materials or time than most of these other science experiments for kids. London Science Museum | ThinkTank - Birmingham Science Museum | Aberdeen Science Centre | Glasgow Science Centre | Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester | Life Science Centre (Centre for Life), Newcastle | National Science and Media Museum, Manchester | Techniquest, Cardiff | Museum of Victorian Science, Whitby | Whipple Museum of the History of Science, Cambridge | Museum of the History of Science, Oxford Is it a liquid or solid? The answer is both! This DIY slime—made from glue, borax and water—is also known as a polymer (molecules that can stick close together to be a solid or spread apart and take liquid form). And it’s all thanks to borax, which acts as a binder to prevent the glue from going completely liquid. Check out Explorable’s recipe on mixing the ingredients. Prolong the life of your goo by keeping it in an airtight container in the fridge. 3. Now remove about an inch of the plastic coating from both ends of the wire and attach the one wire to one end of a battery and the other wire to the other end of the battery. (It is best to tape the wires to the battery – be careful though, the wire could get very hot!) Now you can experiment by picking up paper clips and small non-aluminum objects. Did you know that a simple potato can produce enough energy to keep a light bulb lit for over a month? You can create a simple potato battery to show kids. There are kits that provide all the necessary materials and how to set it up, but if you don’t purchase one of these it can be a bit trickier to gather everything you need and assemble it correctly. Once it’s set though, you’ll have your own farm grown battery!

A step up from silly putty and Play-Doh, magnetic slime is fun to play with but also teaches kids about magnets and how they attract and repel each other. Some of the ingredients you aren’t likely to have around the house, but they can all be purchased online. After mixing the ingredients together, you can use the neodymium magnet (regular magnets won’t be strong enough) to make the magnetic slime move without touching it!

You could even step into the living room to have more scientific fun. Learn about static electricity with some tiny scraps of paper and a balloon. Blow up the balloon and tie it closed. Make a small pile of paper scraps on the floor, and rub the balloon back and forth several times on your hair or on a sweater. Immediately move the balloon to the paper and watch as the paper scraps cling to the balloon. Rub the balloon on your head or sweater again and then place it against the wall to see it stick there. This surprising sticking happens because you have moved electrons around and the balloon now has more of a negative charge, while the paper or the wall has more of a positive charge. Putting the two surfaces together makes the opposite charges stick to each other. With just a package of Starbursts and a few other materials, you can create models of each of the three rock types: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Sedimentary “rocks” will be created by pressing thin layers of Starbursts together, metamorphic by heating and pressing Starbursts, and igneous by applying high levels of heat to the Starbursts. Kids will learn how different types of rocks are forms and how the three rock types look different from each other.
You won’t want to do this experiment near anything that’s difficult to clean (outside may be best), but kids will love seeing this “elephant toothpaste” crazily overflowing the bottle and oozing everywhere. Pour the hydrogen peroxide, food coloring, and dishwashing soap into the bottle, and in the cup mix the yeast packet with some warm water for about 30 seconds. Then, add the yeast mixture to the bottle, stand back, and watch the solution become a massive foamy mixture that pours out of the bottle! The “toothpaste” is formed when the yeast removed the oxygen bubbles from the hydrogen peroxide which created foam. This is an exothermic reaction, and it creates heat as well as foam (you can have kids notice that the bottle became warm as the reaction occurred). The droid can be dismantled and put back together in new, different ways giving your child endless possibilities. This kit is compatible with other kids from littleBits, meaning you can combine them to give even more fun opportunities. The droid can be controlled via a remote control available on the app, or it can be set to self-navigation mode. Your kids will be amazed to see their creation roll around the room by itself without crashing into any objects in its path. The products listed here may contain small parts that are choking hazards for children! Toys can pose a hazard to babies and young children – they can choke, suffocate, or otherwise harm the child. Young children explore their world by putting things in their mouths, but children under three years of age do not have a well-developed coughing reflex and will choke easily on small items. All children, regardless of age, need close supervision with any toys to help prevent accidents from happening. Adult supervision is required at all times! It’s important to get kids involved in science early so they understand the world around them. These science kits focus on critical thinking skills that will give your kid’s hands-on experience to build their curiosity and interest. Help your children discover the fun in learning by checking out these kits that teach them how to conduct their own experiments through the many different fields of science.

The Big Bag of Science is filled with all sorts of scientific ingredients and tools for your child to conduct his or her experiments. The bag also helps to teach observational techniques and skills like understanding measurements, experimentation, and analyzation. Note that there are some ingredients not included that can be found in the house (like soda).

If your kids are learning about genetics, you can do this edible double helix craft to show them how DNA is formed, what its different parts are, and what it looks like. The licorice will form the sides or backbone of the DNA and each color of marshmallow will represent one of the four chemical bases. Kids will be able to see that only certain chemical bases pair with each other. Younger children are most likely to be interested in something which is very hands-on, and gives results quickly. They probably won’t be interested in growing a crystal, and are probably a bit young for something like a robot building kit. Young kids will be most likely to enjoy a gross science kit, or a volcano kit. Also think about safety features when buying for younger children. Make sure they won’t eat anything they shouldn’t, or there are no small parts which could be dangerous. Find out how plants “drink” water with some food coloring. Use carnations, roses, or stalks of celery submerged in the colored water and watch the liquid slowly seep through the plant’s “veins” and towards the leaves. Keep an eye out -- you could have a very colorful bouquet just after the first day. Get the rundown by Dad’s Book of Awesome Science Experiments over here.

Adults and kids will learn amazing new things about basic and acidic solutions with the Mind Blowing Science Kit. Whether erupting a color-changing volcano, creating a sunset in a test tube, or growing colorful, jiggly crystals, this science kit mixes learning with experimentation in a fun and colorful way for a wide range of ages. Each of the hands-on activities in the science guide is intended to be performed by a young scientist under adult supervision, although these activities can be adjusted to accommodate a range of ages and capabilities while still maintaining the educational excitement of the original experiments. In addition to providing detailed instructions, the science guide makes it possible for those adults who might not have a background in science, or even any exposure to scientific experimentation, to knowledgably perform experiments successfully. The dynamic, colorful nature of the experiments included in this kit make it great for pleasing a crowd at family gatherings, parties, or science fairs.

These sound like big words for our little ones, but there’s an easier way to break it down. Water and oil won’t mix because they’re not the same “weight” or substance (just like clay and LEGOs won’t become one). Now add a drop of food coloring (which is heavier than oil) and a fizzy tablet and watch the air bubbles take coloring with them to the top. Head on over to S. L. Smith’s blog to see how it’s done. Can you and the kiddos solve the mysterious case of the disappearing egg shell? Following the simple how-to at Go Science Girls, you’ll learn the step-by-step and talking points about the process along the way. Warning! Although it’s totally non-toxic, toddler aged kids will be tempted to squeeze the egg at the end so make sure it’s a supervised experiment. Visit Go Science Girls to get cracking! I believe all children have the potential to be the next latest and greatest scientific inventor, but they just need to get things started. Holistic learning and hands-on approaches to teaching complex ideas make the difficult a lot less so. Absorbing information and fine-tuning their ability to sit and focus on one project will help set the foundation for them to become able to learn in a coherent and disciplined way, while also being fun.

The good news is that your white lab coat doesn’t have to sit in the closet collecting dust. There are a lot of fun, simple, and hands-on science projects families can do together to learn and understand some of the basic principals of the natural world. And they’re not just for kids: even moms and dads will get a kick out of these 10 family-friendly science experiments!

A step up from silly putty and Play-Doh, magnetic slime is fun to play with but also teaches kids about magnets and how they attract and repel each other. Some of the ingredients you aren’t likely to have around the house, but they can all be purchased online. After mixing the ingredients together, you can use the neodymium magnet (regular magnets won’t be strong enough) to make the magnetic slime move without touching it! Invisible inks either react with another chemical to become visible or else weaken the structure of the paper so the message appears if you hold it over a heat source. But we're not talking about fire here. The heat of a normal light bulb is all that's required to darken the lettering. This baking soda recipe is nice because if you don't want to use a light bulb to reveal the message, you can just swab the paper with grape juice instead. Ideal for introducing science-based activities to young children, Cassie’s experiment for mixing colours and water is a simple science experiment designed for preschoolers. Let your little one choose which colour to use when, ask them to describe the colourful shapes they’ll see dancing in the water and see what happens when you mix more than one colour together. Let’s be honest, we’re all secretly waiting for the hovercraft to be a bonafide mode of transport, but in the meantime why not try this Balloon Hovercraft experiment at home? Using just a balloon, a bottle cap and a CD, you’ll be able to create a hovercraft that glides across the table to move, and with just 3 easy steps to follow, it’s perfect for a quick at-home activity. 3. Now remove about an inch of the plastic coating from both ends of the wire and attach the one wire to one end of a battery and the other wire to the other end of the battery. (It is best to tape the wires to the battery – be careful though, the wire could get very hot!) Now you can experiment by picking up paper clips and small non-aluminum objects. There are loads of different science kits to choose from and we know it can be confusing sometimes which types are ideal for younger children to begin experimenting with. Therefore we have picked some really cool experiment kits. In this review, we have reviewed a whopping 32 science kits that stand out as the best overall, so choosing couldn’t be easier. All have an appropriate age guide so you can’t go wrong with picking.

Making a borax snowflake is a crystal-growing project that is safe and easy enough for kids. You can make shapes other than snowflakes, and you can color the crystals. As a side note, if you use these as Christmas decorations and store them, the borax is a natural insecticide and will help keep your long-term storage area pest-free. If they develop a white precipitant, you can lightly rinse them (don't dissolve too much crystal). Did I mention the snowflakes sparkle really nicely?

While The Big Bag of Science included some fun chemistry experiments, My First Mind Blowing Science Kit focuses solely on chemistry and chemical reactions. Want to witness a sunset in a test tube? What about a color-changing (or even underwater) volcano? This kit includes ingredients your child will need to conduct these colorful experiments over and over again—or at least until the powders, polymers, and oils run out.

Tinker Crate develops kids' natural creativity and curiosity using STEM ("Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math") principles while saving time for busy parents. Our mission is to help kids use STEM as a key to creative problem solving, a foundation for critical thinking, and a pipeline to innovation. Your monthly crate includes all the materials and inspiration for science and engineering projects such as: trebuchet, paper circuits and zoetrope.

Penguins, and many other birds, have special oil-producing glands that coat their feathers with a protective layer that causes water to slide right off them, keeping them warm and dry. You can demonstrate this to kids with this penguin craft by having them color a picture of a penguin with crayons, then spraying the picture with water. The wax from the crayons will have created a protective layer like the oil actual birds coat themselves with, and the paper won’t absorb the water.

3. Now remove about an inch of the plastic coating from both ends of the wire and attach the one wire to one end of a battery and the other wire to the other end of the battery. (It is best to tape the wires to the battery – be careful though, the wire could get very hot!) Now you can experiment by picking up paper clips and small non-aluminum objects. Kids will love shooting pom poms out of these homemade popsicle stick catapults. After assembling the catapults out of popsicle sticks, rubber bands, and plastic spoons, they’re ready to launch pom poms or other lightweight objects. To teach kids about simple machines, you can ask them about how they think the catapults work, what they should do to make the pom poms go a farther/shorter distance, and how the catapult could be made more powerful. Science is a wonderful thing for kids! There is so much to learn and discover right around us. Many science concepts start in the kitchen with simple materials you already have on hand. Fill a plastic tote with easy to find supplies and you will have a homemade kids science kit filled with learning opportunities that are sure to keep them busy all year long! Biology is an important area of science because it teaches us about our bodies and the environment around us. With this Thames & Kosmos Biology Genetics and DNA Kit, your child will jump into the world of heredity and variation of organisms by using a test tube to isolate tomato DNA. This in-depth kit is fun and it covers so many areas of biology that most kits don’t cover. It takes about a week for the crystals of this rock candy experiment to form, but once they have you’ll be able to eat the results! After creating a sugar solution, you’ll fill jars with it and dangle strings in them that’ll slowly become covered with the crystals. This experiment involves heating and pouring boiling water, so adult supervision is necessary, once that step is complete, even very young kids will be excited to watch crystals slowly form.

By creating an articulated hand model, you can teach kids about bones, joints, and how our hands are able to move in many ways and accomplish so many different tasks. After creating a hand out of thin foam, kids will cut straws to represent the different bones in the hand and glue them to the fingers of the hand models. You’ll then thread yarn (which represents tendons) through the straws, stabilize the model with a chopstick or other small stick, and end up with a hand model that moves and bends the way actual human hands do.

Refraction is when light changes direction and speed as it passes from one object to another. Only visible objects reflect light. When two materials with similar reflective properties come into contact, light will pass through both materials at the same speed, rendering the other material invisible. Check out this video from BritLab on how to turn glass invisible using vegetable oil and pyrex glass.

Find out how plants “drink” water with some food coloring. Use carnations, roses, or stalks of celery submerged in the colored water and watch the liquid slowly seep through the plant’s “veins” and towards the leaves. Keep an eye out -- you could have a very colorful bouquet just after the first day. Get the rundown by Dad’s Book of Awesome Science Experiments over here. It’s natural to have a lot of questions about the world. As you wonder about these things and ask questions, you are learning. Curiosity about science helps you become an explorer finding out how things work and why things happen. Anyone can be a scientist, performing experiments to ask questions and get answers. You can even be a scientist at home, working on experiments with ingredients you probably have in your kitchen or laundry room. Always get a parent’s permission before you conduct experiments. Working as a team with an adult is best for safety. 'Tis the season for gumdrops and this classic structural engineering challenge uses just two ingredients: toothpicks and candy. We’re particularly fond of this one from The Homeschool Scientist because it helps you explain what the concepts (engineering, load distribution, physics, shape comparison) are to your kiddos while they are building it. doing it. Visit The Homeschool Scientist to get going. And click here for five more gumdrop-themed challenges. It happens to the Statue of Liberty and it happens to the change in your pocket! Create your own home lab with just a few household ingredients (this experiment will literally cost you just pennies). It’s also a chemical reaction with very non-toxic ingredients, so it’s safe and fascinating even for young kids. Click over to Buggy and Buddy to get the simple how-to. The good news is that your white lab coat doesn’t have to sit in the closet collecting dust. There are a lot of fun, simple, and hands-on science projects families can do together to learn and understand some of the basic principals of the natural world. And they’re not just for kids: even moms and dads will get a kick out of these 10 family-friendly science experiments! Have you ever gone into a cave and seen huge stalactites hanging from the top of the cave? Stalactites are formed by dripping water. The water is filled with particles which slowly accumulate and harden over the years, forming stalactites. You can recreate that process with this stalactite experiment. By mixing a baking soda solution, dipping a piece of wool yarn in the jar and running it to another jar, you’ll be able to observe baking soda particles forming and hardening along the yarn, similar to how stalactites grow. Let’s be honest, we’re all secretly waiting for the hovercraft to be a bonafide mode of transport, but in the meantime why not try this Balloon Hovercraft experiment at home? Using just a balloon, a bottle cap and a CD, you’ll be able to create a hovercraft that glides across the table to move, and with just 3 easy steps to follow, it’s perfect for a quick at-home activity.

This kit also teaches your kids about the influential scientists who paved the way in the field, such as Francis Crick, James Watson, and Gregor Mendel. From genes, heredity, traits, and inheritance, to reproduction, cellular components, DNA sequencing, and genetic engineering—this kit will teach it all in a fun and educational way that your kids are sure to love.

Kids will love shooting pom poms out of these homemade popsicle stick catapults. After assembling the catapults out of popsicle sticks, rubber bands, and plastic spoons, they’re ready to launch pom poms or other lightweight objects. To teach kids about simple machines, you can ask them about how they think the catapults work, what they should do to make the pom poms go a farther/shorter distance, and how the catapult could be made more powerful.